Valero

Valero Energy Corporation is a large U.S. oil company based in San Antonio, Texas. It was named after the Alamo (the Mission San Antonio de Valero). Valero has 5,500 retail gas stations and wholesale outlets in the U.S. and Canada. Brands include Corner Store, Diamond Shamrock, Shamrock, Ultramar, Valero, Stop N Go, and Beacon. In 2006, sales were US$91.8 billion with profits of US$5.4 billion.

Political contributions
Valero gave $671,000 to federal candidates in the 2006 election through its political action committee - 10% to Democrats and 90% to Republicans.

Lobbying
Valero is one of the largest energy company contributors to both Republican and Democratic candidates for Congress. These contributions total $646,600 to the 110th US Congress (as of the third quarter), the largest of which has been to Rep. John Cornyn (R-TX) for $13,650. Rep. Cornyn, for his part, has consistently been one of the oil industry's strongest supporters, voting with fossil fuel interests on energy, war and climate bills.

Contributions like this from fossil fuel companies to members of Congress are often seen as a political barrier to pursuing clean energy.

More information on oil industry contributions to Congress can be found at FollowtheOilMoney.org, created by the nonpartisan, nonprofit organization Oil Change International.

The company spent $340,000 for lobbying in the first half of 2007.

Valero is one of the major financial backers of the 2010 California Proposition 23, contributing more than $4 million as of August 2010. Proposition 23 would delay action on green house gas emissions in the state of California, by delaying current implementation of the California's Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 until the state has an unemployment rate of 5.5% for one full year. Critics have argued that, because that has happened only three times over the last 40 years, the proposition would have the practical effect of repealing the law.

Valero owns two oil refineries in California. The Benicia Refinery is located on the Carquinez Strait, a tributary of San Francisco Bay. The Wilmington Refinery is located 23 miles south of downtown Los Angeles. The top ten individual sources of California GHG emissions are either oil refineries or power plants.

Personnel
Selected members of the Board of Directors:
 * Don Nickles, Former U.S. Senator (R-Oklahoma)
 * Jerry Choate, Also Director of Amgen and H&R Block, Former CEO of Allstate
 * Bill Bradford, Former Chairman of the Board of Halliburton Company

Contact details
1 Valero Way San Antonio, TX 78249 Phone: 210-345-2000 Fax: 210-345-2646 Web: http://www.valero.com

Related SourceWatch articles

 * Oil industry
 * Valero Refinery Carbon Capture and Storage Project